1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hermetically-sealed handle assembly for hermetically locking a door to a stationary frame element of a refrigerator and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a conventional hermetically-sealed handle assembly, a pivot bolt, which permits a handle piece to be rotatably mounted on a base plate, is fixedly mounted on the base plate by welding. The pivot bolt has its threaded shaft portion inserted in an axial hole of the handle piece and has its front end threadably engaged with a cap nut. In another conventional handle assembly such as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Sho 63-10177, the nut is fixed to the base plate by welding. On the other hand, the pivot bolt has its threaded shaft portion inserted in the axial hole of the handle piece, and has a front end of its threaded shaft portion engaged with the nut.
However, in such conventional type of the handle assembly in which the pivot bolt and the nut are fixed to the base plate by welding, it is necessary to perform such welding by skilled workers, which increases labor costs. Since the manually-performed welding operation is poor in workability, the conventional handle assembly is poor in its productivity.